3 key takeaways from the 2018 Startup Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley
When the opportunity to attend Startup Grind Global first popped up, the timing was impeccable. I was just back from an incredibly reflective Christmas/NY break and there were a lot of big ideas knocking about my head with equally large questions attached to them. Of the thousands in my head, the ones that I felt this trip to Startup Grind Global in San Fran would help me answer were:
- What is the Silicon Valley startup scene really like and what does it take to exist and be successful in that environment?
- Being interested in the concepts of Venture Building and Startup Studios, how are they perceived in the investment communities and what do you need to be able to demonstrate to be an attractive prospect?
- What do VCs and other levels of investment want to see or hear about your business and what do they truly care about when it comes to making that decision to invest or not?
With a speaker line-up that would make anyone dizzy, I had high hopes of being able to get some of these answers. Just a few of the speakers presenting at this year’s global event included:
- Reid Hoffman: Co-founder of LinkedIn
- Cal Henderson: Co-founder/CTO of Slack
- Adi Tatarko: CEO & Co-founder of Houzz
- Gillian Tans: CEO Booking.com
- James Park: Co-founder of Fitbit
- Niko Bontasos: General Catalyst
- Jess Lee: Sequoia Capital
- Jeff Jordan: Andreessen Horowitz
So with that mission in mind, I set out to San Fran with my friend and colleague Shane O’Connell to experience the Valley first hand, soak up the atmosphere as well as much knowledge as humanly possible.
It turns out that, although the human mind is an amazing thing, the amount of knowledge, experience and insight dropped on the attendees of Startup Grind in just two days, was just too much to process at once. It has taken Shane and I a couple of days of sharing our experiences to fully grasp how much we have learned.
I could write blog post after blog post about everything that went on at Startup Grind this year (and I might eke out a few on topics that fascinated me over the next few weeks) but instead I’ll share what I thought were the 3 key takeaways.
1: “Success is made from the relentless pursuit of the customer problem”
Wade Foster (Co-founder, Zapier) made this statement, and he couldn’t have said it any better in my opinion. This is something that I really believe in, and is baked into the DNA of the Pixel Fusion team in everything we do. His sharing it with startups is important, especially amongst all the talks about raising capital. It was said many times that this simple principle is easily lost by some startups as they try to hustle for cash.
Alex Chriss (CPO of Small Business Group, Intuit) took the concept of “pursuit” one step further when he shared his number one tactic for reaching product / market fit. At Intuit they coined the term “Follow me homes”, where a UX researcher or other product person, would literally follow a customer to their environment (often their home) to observe and interview them in their natural environment. He says this really works as customers often leave out important details when being interviewed somewhere else. This is a tactic we know well at Pixel Fusion and we can attest to its success on many a project.
If you are paying attention to solving the customer problem, the rest will come with time.
Alex Chriss says “You gotta go Fatal Attraction on the customer problem man!” and this is not only my personal favourite quote of the conference, but is a sentiment I 100% agree with. If you are paying attention to solving the customer problem, the rest will come with time.
2: Choose your VC wisely
An interesting theme that came across from both the VCs and the successful founders being interviewed, was the importance of finding the right VC for your startup. This is important for a lot of reasons, but mainly, you’re going to be going through a lot of shit with this person and a successful partnership is one where you have maximum alignment.
“Find partners that provide what you need at the time and are aligned … ones you want to get into the foxhole with.”
During one fireside chat, Reggie Bradford (SVP Oracle Startup Ecosystem) said “Find partners that provide what you need at the time and are aligned … ones you want to get into the foxhole with.” — and his point was exactly that. There are times when you’re going to need to be working very closely with your VC team, and if they don’t have the expertise in what you need at that moment, or you don’t have that alignment in your vision, strategy or purpose, it’s going to be extra tough and you might not make it out the other side.
Eurie Kim (General Partner, Forerunner Ventures) backed this up by reminding the room that these investments are often long games and “you’re going to be stuck with that investor for a really long time so best you get along”.
Pete Flint (Managing Partner NFX) hit the point home during his talk when he said, when raising money, “Your investor syndicate IS your brand”. He was also stressing the point that Startups should be picking their investor based on their fit to the company, the market the startup is in, and their history in that domain. Pointing out that “…the right investors will help you succeed raising future money”.
“Your investor syndicate IS your brand!”
3: VCs are people too!
Pete Flint was also quick to point out that, balanced with this laser-focus on selecting your VC, your perception of VCs drives who you attract. If you’re single-minded about VCs being a cheque book, then that’s who you will attract and is all you’re going to get. Both Pete and Eurie shared that the reality is VCs often have a lot more value they can provide, and a desire to do so.
The vibe I got from the VC breakout stream was that VCs are battling with the perception that they are greedy individuals, with no consideration for the startup except the biggest exit in the shortest amount of time — think Russ Hanneman from the tv show Silicon Valley.
Whether or not this is true, there were a lot of times when the “VCs are people too” comment came out. During Eurie Kim’s talk she reminded the Entrepreneurs in the audience that even though you have big issues to deal with in your day to day, a lot of VCs are helping fight those fires with you, except they have multiple entrepreneurs to deal with on a daily basis. So spare a moment for them when you accost them in the street and start pitching them, or waste their time with a poorly prepared-for meeting.
Now, as it happens, Nick Bonatsos (GC Partners) disagreed by saying “VCs are motivated by fear and greed”. But this was really a controversial conversation starter to make the point that VCs are driven by the desire for success and also succumb to the fear of missing out, each of which are relatable states of emotion worth being cognisant of as an entrepreneur looking for funding.
My thoughts on the Startup Grind event itself
This was my very first Startup Grind Global, and Shane and I had an absolute ball. Firstly though, a huge shoutout to Greig Cranfield the Startup Grind Chapter Director for New Zealand, for helping us make it happen. If you’re in New Zealand and haven’t gone to one of the events, you should! Go do it now!
The first address was from the man himself, Derek Anderson. What a cool, calm and collected dude this guy is. It felt like he was up there just chilling with us all for 20 mins while he told us how important the Startup Grind family is to him.
He then proceeded to lay down the law for the next couple of days, sharing the awesome values that underpin the Startup Grind event and the community at large.
“Help others, before yourself”
“Make friends, not contacts”
“Give first, don’t take”
This was a great way to kick us all off as it gave us all a common modus operandi that we could live by for at least a couple of days. This led to a vibrant, friendly and open atmosphere that I hadn’t experienced as much before. Kiwis are known for being friendly, but Startup Grind definitely showed me the difference between “friendly” and “open”.
With the huge amount of knowledge being shared and the humming atmosphere, it would be easy to think that they’ve cracked it! By and large they have, but there were a couple of things I found niggly.
I felt some of the deeper talks suffered from the sessions being no more than 30 minutes, especially the AI and Blockchain stream. Talks like “What are Blockchains useful for?” and Andrew Ng’s inspiring “AI is the new electricity” were just begging for 45+ minutes. I think the fireside chats were perfect at 30 minutes, but the deeper content-based talks could have done with a tad more time.
As a Kiwi, at the beginning of the conference, I was highly aware of people leaving before the speaker had finished. The last 5+ minutes were full of bodies shuffling in and out of the theatre which I found quite distracting. Not only because of the physical interruption it caused, but also mentally as my Kiwi-trained sensibilities tried to wrap my head around it being ok to leave before someone had finished sharing.
“My head hung low, I scurried out of these lectures muttering apologies under my breath…”
I got used to it after a while, and eventually found myself sneaking out a little early. When I stopped myself short that first time, I realised it was the relentless timeframes I was being held to, and getting from one venue to the next, that was driving me. My head hung low, I scurried out of these lectures muttering apologies under my breath… And then I promptly did the same thing in the next session.
I can only imagine, pulling together and executing an event of this magnitude is no mean feat, but the Startup Grind team did it with absolute style and grace. Everything rang like clockwork and was a massive hit by all accounts.
New Zealand has have the absolute honour of hosting Webstock, one of the best design & technology conferences in the world, which sets a very high bar. I can say without a doubt that Startup Grind is right up there.
So did I achieve my goals?
If I was to summarise my goals, they were all centered around immersing myself in the start-up community of San Francisco/Bay Area, and experiencing the mindset and the levers and drivers behind it that keep the ecosystem turning the way that it does.
From that perspective, I feel between spending time at The Kiwi Landing Pad (Shout out to Siân Simpson for your time and hospitality), two relentless days of learning and networking over Startup Grind, and various conversations and observations over the remainder of the week, I have gained a level of understanding of the ecosystem, and appreciation for what it would take for a fledgling Kiwi startup to be successful here that I simply didn’t have before.
And so from that perspective I would consider the time here well spent although I have some thoughts around what I would do differently, and some key tips to anyone thinking of doing the same/similar recon. Shane and I are going to put these thoughts together into another article (link coming!) but my top 3 high level tips would be:
1: Plan!
Sounds simple, but it’s a long way to come to not get the most out of it. People are busy here and if you want to be meeting people, you need to be expanding that network and getting time in the diaries in advance of your trip — KEA and Kiwi Landing Pad are a great place to start. Let them know you’re coming at what you want to get out of it. Of course, leave some time for serendipitous opportunities to present themselves, but don’t leave the calendar wide open.
2: Have a goal!
Know what you’re here to do and what you want to achieve. Think about how you can measure that when you get back and also about how you’re tracking so you can be nimble and change your tack if you’re not getting through it. Having a goal/goals also helps you plan. Some of those goals may require prep work to be done before you get here so be sure to leave yourself enough time to put everything together.
3. Be courageous
Go forth and relentlessly achieve your goals. Put yourself out there and make those opportunities. I think as Kiwi’s we can be a little more reserved by nature, but over here you need to seize the moment or get lost in the sea of hungry (some literally) Entrepreneurs. If the idea of walking up to an individual or group makes you balk, then consider bringing someone with you who can. Either way, definitely hit up the Kiwi Landing Pad (again preferably in advance of your trip) and let them help put you in contact with the right people and groups.
So, will you see me at Startup Grind Global conference in 2019?
Quite simply, “absolutely”! And if you’re an entrepreneur, especially in the technology sector, then you should be there too.
